The Strategic Stewardship of Cultural Resources

Book excerpt: Keep your cultural resources safe for generations to come! Culled from papers presented at a Library of Congress symposium in October 2000, The Strategic Stewardship of Cultural Resources: To Preserve and Protect examines the challenges you face in preserving and safeguarding your library's resources. Twenty-two leading library and archival professionals address critical issues on the preservation and security of collections in cultural property institutions, including libraries, museums, and archives. The book explores the connections between physical security and the preservation of our cultural heritage. The Strategic Stewardship of Cultural Resources identifies the risks involved in preserving cultural resources and presents effective strategies for security. The book guides you through the process of evaluating preservation and security programs, budgeting costs, determining the right amount of facilities security, meeting the challenge of preserving digital information, and coping with the negative effects of theft and vandalism. The Strategic Stewardship of Cultural Resources focuses on four keys that are central to safeguarding your heritage assets: physical security—protection from theft, mutilation, damage by water, fire, etc., with strategies used by the Library of Congress and other major libraries preservation—protection from deterioration through conservation and reformatting, using examples from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Library of Congress, and other institutions bibliographic control—knowing what your library has inventory control—knowing where your collections are The Strategic Stewardship of Cultural Resources: To Preserve and Protect also examines the FBI's Art Theft Program, national and institutional requirements for preservation funding, and measuring the effect of environmental elements (temperature, humidity, etc.) on your collection. The book is an essential resource for library, archive, and museum directors, preservation officers, security professionals, curators, and archivists.